From Media Day until opening night, NBA.com’s John Schuhmann will provide a key stat for each team in the league and show you, with film and analysis, why it matters. Up next are the Houston Rockets, who added another star this summer.

The stat

The context

That was, by far, the lowest rate in the league. In fact, it was just a little more than half the league average (28.3 percent). Mid-range shots are the least efficient shots and the Rockets did their best to avoid them.

Houston took 38.7 percent of their shots from the restricted area, the third-highest rate in the league, behind only Denver and Detroit. They took 10.3 percent of their shots from the corners, the second-highest rate in the league, behind only Miami. Lastly, 24.5 percent of their shots were above-the-break threes, again the second-highest rate in the league (behind only New York).

The following are highlights from a win in Milwaukee when 56 of the Rockets’ 83 shots were from the restricted area (where they were 26-for-38) or from the corners (9-for-18). Only eight (9.6 percent) of the 83 shots came from mid-range.

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The addition of Dwight Howard shouldn’t change the Rockets’ shot selection much. Howard ranked second in the league in shots from the restricted area and, as a more dangerous threat than Asik on the pick-and-roll, he will create tons of open looks for the Rockets’ shooters.

Delfino, who signed with Milwaukee, will be missed. He fit right in as a small-ball four who was a threat from either the corner or above the break and wouldn’t hurt the Rockets too much defensively. Houston has started three different power forwards in four preseason games thus far, looking for the right fit on both ends of the floor.

Whether he starts or not, the hope is that Omri Casspi can replace Delfino’s shooting. Casspi has actually been the better shooter from the corners over the last four seasons, but Delfino has been better from above the break and has shot at a much higher volume.

3-point shooting by area, last four seasons

Corner 3

ATB 3

Total

Player

FGM

FGA

FG%

FGM

FGA

FG%

FGM

FGA

FG%

Omri Casspi

92

209

44.0%

153

480

31.9%

245

694

35.3%

Carlos Delfino

205

484

42.4%

278

823

33.8%

483

1,309

36.9%

Donatas Motiejunas has yet to get comfortable beyond the arc and Terrence Jones probably doesn’t belong out there yet. So the search for the right power forward in the Rockets’ pace-and-space system will go on. The right fit could be what turns Houston into a true title contender, and it may be that it requires trading Asik.

They didn’t trade for Howard, but the trades of Patterson etc. were need to have enough cap space to sign Howard as a free agent, since Harden has a big contrant, Asik’s is also pretty big and Lin’s is huge in the last year.